After 'thank you' and 'welcome', Pinki returns to reality

After her brief sojourn in England, during which she tossed the coin at the Wimbledon men's final between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic and learnt words like “thank you”, “welcome” and “good bye”, it was back to the reality of thatched hut, poverty and backwardness of Rampur Dabai village in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur district, about 300 km from here, for Pinki.

She, however, has the chocolates, teddy bear and a few other toys she received as gifts in England. Pinki has also learnt to wave her hands and say good bye and thank you.

Pinki shot to fame after the Megan Mylan documentary on her, named “Smile Pinki”, bagged the Academy Award in 2008.

Before that, she had a cleft lip, which had led her to be considered an outcast. She was later operated upon.

“Nothing has changed for Pinki. She is in demand whenever something like this (the toss at Wimbledon) happens. Scribes make a beeline for our house, but after a few days everything returns to as it was,” says Pinki's mother Simla Devi.

Her pain is visible when she says that her daughter is being “used”. “Pinki's cleft lip did not give us any more pain than the way she is being used now,” she said. “People take her for when they need her, and then leave her where they had picked her up from: in her hut which has no electricity. No one gives any thought to her future,” said Simla Devi. “Pinki will live here only and tend goats.”

Her father, Rajendra Sonkar, said that people and the government had made tall promises when the film had won the Academy Award and Pinki had brought fame to the village, but they forgot everything.  “I have no hope from the government,” said Rajendra, who sells seasonal vegetables and other small items to eke out a living.

Meanwhile, Pinki was busy showing the gifts to her brothers, sisters and friends from the village, and sharing her experiences in England. Rajendra, however, will have to go back to selling a few vegetables to make some money.